As Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters commit crimes in both the magical and Muggle worlds, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. In the second chapter, Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son Draco has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect her son, and complete the task for him should he fail. Snape agrees, and the vow is sealed.
Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to fill in the vacant spot in the teaching staff. Harry notices that one of Dumbledore's hands is withered and burnt black, and that he is wearing a ring with a distinctively-marked stone. Harry spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, where they receive their O.W.L. results. To become Aurors, Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T. level Potions, but their O.W.L.s in the subject are too low to enrol in Snape's Potions class.
At Hogwarts, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron’s O.W.L.s are sufficient for admittance to Slughorn’s class, which has lower standards, but neither had purchased a textbook, so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry's book has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages. Harry discovers that these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions (winning him a vial of Felix Felicis, a potion that infuses luck, on his first day in class), and that the book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince".
Romantic subplots are a major theme of the novel. Ron's brother Bill Weasley is engaged to the bewitchingly-lovely Fleur Delacour, whom his mother disapproves of. This conflict is not resolved until the end of the novel, when Fleur remains loyal to Bill even after he suffers significant facial scars in battle. Meanwhile, Auror Nymphadora Tonks is seen in low spirits throughout the year, with dialogue suggesting she may have harbored unrequited love for her now-slain cousin Sirius Black. However, it is eventually revealed that she has fallen for Remus Lupin, and remains besotted despite his protests that he is unworthy of her. They marry over the summer, as revealed in the early chapters of the next book.
Ron and Ginny both gain membership on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which Harry now captains, as Keeper and Chaser respectively. This puts Harry in frequent contact with Ginny, who for a long time harbored an unrequited attraction to him. Now, however, she is dating Dean Thomas—unexpectedly conjuring up feelings of jealousy in Harry. This is exacerbated when Dean also gains membership on the team, replacing original member Katie Bell who was almost killed while attempting to deliver a cursed necklace under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Furthermore, Ron is displeased with the idea of his younger sister dating anybody, forcing Harry to ignore his attraction for the sake of loyalty. After a blazing row with Ginny in which Ron's dating inexperience is made clear, Ron then takes up with Lavender Brown, creating a divide between him and Hermione (whose unresolved sexual tension have been an ongoing plot thread for several years). The two stop speaking, forcing Harry to accompany them one at a time. This particular rift is only mended on 1 March 1996, Ron's 17th birthday and legal majority, when he accidentally consumes a love potion attracting him to Romilda Vane, and then poisoned mead which almost kills him.
During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses his vial of Felix Felicis to gain the memory.
The series of memories reveals that to attain immortality, Voldemort splintered his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects called Horcruxes, while leaving a seventh piece in his body. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets[HP2], and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore (the ring Harry noticed on his hand earlier). The memories indicate that three other Horcruxes are most likely a locket formerly owned by Salazar Slytherin, a cup formerly owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and the snake Nagini; but the last of the six Horcruxes remains unidentified. Dumbledore speculates that it may be a possession of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, as Tom Riddle would have wanted a possession of each of the founders of Hogwarts, his first and only real home.
After seeing Harry cast an unusual curse, "Sectumsempra" (a dark curse which leaves deep gashes) against Draco Malfoy, Snape attempts to repossess the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book, but Harry gives him Ron's copy instead and hides his copy in the Room of Requirement, distinguishing his hiding spot with an old bust wearing a wig and a strange-looking tiara whose significance is not revealed until the next book. Harry gets detention from Snape and misses the Quidditch finals, but Gryffindor wins the Cup with Ron and Ginny starring in the match. During the victory celebration, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's grudging approval they begin dating.
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve a locket. Harry and Dumbledore find the entrance, present a blood offering to a secret door, and row in a small boat across an Inferi-infested lake. To acquire the locket, Dumbledore must drink a mysterious potion. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints, and while attempting to minister to him, Harry provokes the Inferi which attack him and Dumbledore. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety in Hogsmeade, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts and hurry back to the school.
Dumbledore and an invisible Harry are confronted atop the tower by Draco Malfoy, and before Harry can reveal himself, Dumbledore immobilises Harry just before Malfoy disarms him. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Hogwarts students (Katie Bell's cursing and Ron's poisoning), with both objects intended for Dumbledore, whom Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill. Dumbledore offers Draco asylum and protection from the Death Eaters, and Draco cannot bring himself to carry out his orders, even with the urging of fellow Death Eaters once they arrive. Instead, to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow, Snape kills Dumbledore. Harry, enraged and freed from immobility by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince, and fends off Harry's attacks until he can get outside Hogwarts grounds and Disapparate.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. He and his personal wand are buried in a white tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts's grounds. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. Harry breaks up with Ginny to keep her safe from danger during his quest, and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him.
Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to fill in the vacant spot in the teaching staff. Harry notices that one of Dumbledore's hands is withered and burnt black, and that he is wearing a ring with a distinctively-marked stone. Harry spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, where they receive their O.W.L. results. To become Aurors, Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T. level Potions, but their O.W.L.s in the subject are too low to enrol in Snape's Potions class.
At Hogwarts, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron’s O.W.L.s are sufficient for admittance to Slughorn’s class, which has lower standards, but neither had purchased a textbook, so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry's book has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages. Harry discovers that these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions (winning him a vial of Felix Felicis, a potion that infuses luck, on his first day in class), and that the book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince".
Romantic subplots are a major theme of the novel. Ron's brother Bill Weasley is engaged to the bewitchingly-lovely Fleur Delacour, whom his mother disapproves of. This conflict is not resolved until the end of the novel, when Fleur remains loyal to Bill even after he suffers significant facial scars in battle. Meanwhile, Auror Nymphadora Tonks is seen in low spirits throughout the year, with dialogue suggesting she may have harbored unrequited love for her now-slain cousin Sirius Black. However, it is eventually revealed that she has fallen for Remus Lupin, and remains besotted despite his protests that he is unworthy of her. They marry over the summer, as revealed in the early chapters of the next book.
Ron and Ginny both gain membership on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which Harry now captains, as Keeper and Chaser respectively. This puts Harry in frequent contact with Ginny, who for a long time harbored an unrequited attraction to him. Now, however, she is dating Dean Thomas—unexpectedly conjuring up feelings of jealousy in Harry. This is exacerbated when Dean also gains membership on the team, replacing original member Katie Bell who was almost killed while attempting to deliver a cursed necklace under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Furthermore, Ron is displeased with the idea of his younger sister dating anybody, forcing Harry to ignore his attraction for the sake of loyalty. After a blazing row with Ginny in which Ron's dating inexperience is made clear, Ron then takes up with Lavender Brown, creating a divide between him and Hermione (whose unresolved sexual tension have been an ongoing plot thread for several years). The two stop speaking, forcing Harry to accompany them one at a time. This particular rift is only mended on 1 March 1996, Ron's 17th birthday and legal majority, when he accidentally consumes a love potion attracting him to Romilda Vane, and then poisoned mead which almost kills him.
During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses his vial of Felix Felicis to gain the memory.
The series of memories reveals that to attain immortality, Voldemort splintered his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects called Horcruxes, while leaving a seventh piece in his body. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets[HP2], and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore (the ring Harry noticed on his hand earlier). The memories indicate that three other Horcruxes are most likely a locket formerly owned by Salazar Slytherin, a cup formerly owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and the snake Nagini; but the last of the six Horcruxes remains unidentified. Dumbledore speculates that it may be a possession of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, as Tom Riddle would have wanted a possession of each of the founders of Hogwarts, his first and only real home.
After seeing Harry cast an unusual curse, "Sectumsempra" (a dark curse which leaves deep gashes) against Draco Malfoy, Snape attempts to repossess the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book, but Harry gives him Ron's copy instead and hides his copy in the Room of Requirement, distinguishing his hiding spot with an old bust wearing a wig and a strange-looking tiara whose significance is not revealed until the next book. Harry gets detention from Snape and misses the Quidditch finals, but Gryffindor wins the Cup with Ron and Ginny starring in the match. During the victory celebration, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's grudging approval they begin dating.
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve a locket. Harry and Dumbledore find the entrance, present a blood offering to a secret door, and row in a small boat across an Inferi-infested lake. To acquire the locket, Dumbledore must drink a mysterious potion. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints, and while attempting to minister to him, Harry provokes the Inferi which attack him and Dumbledore. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety in Hogsmeade, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts and hurry back to the school.
Dumbledore and an invisible Harry are confronted atop the tower by Draco Malfoy, and before Harry can reveal himself, Dumbledore immobilises Harry just before Malfoy disarms him. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Hogwarts students (Katie Bell's cursing and Ron's poisoning), with both objects intended for Dumbledore, whom Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill. Dumbledore offers Draco asylum and protection from the Death Eaters, and Draco cannot bring himself to carry out his orders, even with the urging of fellow Death Eaters once they arrive. Instead, to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow, Snape kills Dumbledore. Harry, enraged and freed from immobility by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince, and fends off Harry's attacks until he can get outside Hogwarts grounds and Disapparate.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. He and his personal wand are buried in a white tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts's grounds. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. Harry breaks up with Ginny to keep her safe from danger during his quest, and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him.
No comments:
Post a Comment